Lesson 602
Story Sometime before the present, Shijaku talks to his rival as their army of spaceships confront each other. He reminds his opponent, the Gun Smoke Prince, Enshou, that his wife is due to give birth and that he should go back to his wife's side instead of happily fighting in battle. Enshou retorts that it is not the way of his people of the planet Burei; as a military nation, it will be a disgrace to return home from battle empty-handed. He adds that his wife is also fighting her own battle and she states that it is a race to see who will gain first glory. Shijaku, amused by Enshou's wife's words, resolves himself to fight their war unashamed with all his strength. They are interrupted by Enshou's messenger, who tells the prince that Burei's Altana Gate was destroyed by sabotage, devastating the capital city and killing countless people, including Enshou's wife and unborn child. A while later, Enshou stands in front of his wife's grave and asks the waiting Shijaku why he let the prince escape and didn't take advantage of the weakened world to attack it. Shijaku reiterates that he wishes to fight a battle unashamed, plus his enemy was not the prince but someone else. He declares that the prince has gained an ally in himself in the fight against their true enemies. Thus the two helped formed the Liberation Army to free there worlds of the Tendoushuu. In the present, the Army generals receive word that a group of insurgents (Utsuro and his Naraku) have attacked the stationed Army garrison, already destroying two of their ships and causing casualties. One of the generals chastises Shijaku for being lenient to the Earthlings and making a deal with them instead of destroying them from the start. Shijaku thinks back to his meeting with Nobu Nobu, where the Shogun reiterates that the soldiers should stop attacking the Earthings and that they will bring the Tendoushuu to them or Nobu Nobu will give up his head if the Earthlings fail. The general is still impressed with Nobu Nobu's self-sacrifice to his country but wonders if they will succeed. Sakamoto responds that everyone must fight for their own freedom, but then the real fight will start. Since the planets are regaining control of their Altana, they will have the "freedom" to attack other planets for whatever reason. So they all must fight against freedom and themselves. Shijaku tells his fellow generals that this wasn't the Earthlings' doing but was a trap by a third party that wishes to prolong the war. Enshou arrives and believes the third party was the Tendoushuu with himself being indirectly responsible for this state of affairs by starting the war. He reveals that Shijaku was a former royal who dedicated himself for battles. Shijaku states that he joined this war for the freedom of the universe but he now realizes that the army is going down a path of destruction and the only way to stop it may be to end the war. After the meeting, Shijaku asks Enshou to privately meet Nobu Nobu for more insight as the shogun is arriving shortly. The prince in turn asks his rival to privately meet someone; he reminds the confused Amanto about his vow to destroy the Tendoushuu in vengeance and that almost everyone in the army had made that same vow. But he notes his concern of the Army's state of mind if the war ends now. He states that a small force found a ship wreckage on Earth a month ago that belongs to a certain group and shows him to a room that contains pods holding the floating remains of a group of Amanto, the Tendoushuu, to whom the entire war was started to fight against. The Gun Smoke Prince tells his shocked rival that despite their state, the group was still alive but he didn't know what happened to cause this. Shijaku wonders who were the attacking insurgents but Enshou didn't really care as long as they were a scapegoat for the Army's anger and sorrow. Shijaku is then surrounded by soldiers, along with Nobu Nobu, Sakamoto and the others separately. Enshou doesn't wish for the war to end and as long as the rest of the army is unaware of the Tendoushuu's present state, then the war will continue and he will still have a purpose to live. He then tells the soldiers to jail Shijaku, defeat the insurgents and subjugate Earth. At the same time, the stationed soldiers continue to fight against Utsuro and the Naraku and were finally able to shoot down some of the disguised assassins. The Amanto grow horrified when the dead assassins suddenly start rising to their feet, with Utsuro coldly looking on with a smile. Characters * Liberation Army ** Shijaku ** Enshou (debut) * Hitotsubashi Nobu Nobu * Katsura Kotarou (cameo) * Sakamoto Tatsuma * Mutsu (cameo) * Tenshouin Naraku ** Utsuro Category:Chapters